I agree that it is important to establish multiple sources of income, but I would be hesitant to group dividend stocks and real estate into the “multiple streams” bucket. Those are investments, and living off of investment income because you are in an emergency state is not a good plan. Cash flow from investments ebbs and flows more than the cash flow from a day job.

I’m hoping to have about 10g saved by this time next year, which I know is nothing huge but seeing as I’m at 2.5g right now and owned 3 dollars to my name on Aug.9 I’m pretty happy with my progress :). But at my age, without a stable career, while working part time and having to go to school full time, what is a realistic path I could pursue to create passive income online, or even income that requires effort such as writing, but one that is more flexible than working in a stationary low-paid position for 10 dollars an hour? I need to work for now to show taxable income for the government to get my residency, but after that I know my time could be better served than earning 8 dollars an hour, I’m just not sure where to go from here. I considered flipping domain names, or penny stocks, or sports gambling, but again that’s not passive income and in reality they are more or less just forms of me gambling.

I also like the distinctions you make about the illusion of influence. I have control over most of my investments (real estate related) and have 10% in passive index funds. But I think as I continue to diversify, I like putting it into the two buckets of (1) I control (2) no control (stock market). I like that clarity. The illusion of control does add stress and hassle that detract from enjoying your life. Not worth extra returns to me.

India became the tenth-largest insurance market in the world in 2013, rising from 15th in 2011.[217][218] At a total market size of US$66.4 billion in 2013, it remains small compared to world's major economies, and the Indian insurance market accounts for 2% of the world's insurance business. India's life and non-life insurance industry has been growing at 20%, and double-digit growth is expected to continue through 2021.[219] The market retains about 360 million active life-insurance policies, the most in the world.[219] Of the 52 insurance companies in India, 24 are active in life-insurance business. The life-insurance industry is projected to increase at double-digit CAGR through 2019, reaching US$1 trillion annual notional values by 2021.[219]

Finally, make sure you can service multiple types of clients. This is the best egg to have. Even for something as simple as a dog walking business, you can service multiple types of clients. For example, you can offer a puppy walking service and an adult walking service. You can have weekends at the park services. You can offer to take the dog to the groomers. Try to meet client’s individual needs.
Rentals, just like stocks, throw off cash. With rentals we call that cash “rent”, and with stocks we call it dividends. A significant difference however is that the S&P 500 has appreciated at ~6% per year (above inflation) for the last 100 years…..Real Estate has had almost 0 growth above inflation. So are rents higher than dividends? Maybe, maybe not. But unless you got one heck of a deal, the delta in rent over dividends will have a very tough time making up for the 6% per year difference in appreciation.
However, until we get another reset in valuations (I’m calculating a 40% to 50% correction is justified ), I’ve moved largely to the sidelines. Beginning in July 2013, I began slowly reducing equity exposure and am now sitting firm at 40% with the balance in various forms of 5 yr cd’s and short duration bonds. This is down from over 60% when I ramped up to take advantage of the March 2009 lows.

Hi, in as much as the article in this blog appears to be a source for information for us folks who are perhaps a little older (and wiser) would it be possible to point a person who is extremely sceptical about earning extra income.. other than worked 9-5 for? ( that person of course is me). Who now in a few years should be retiring, problem is, no money there to retire on. So a second source of income/investing is critical to my wife and I.

Everything passive first takes active energy. The time to put in the effort is when we are young and not ravaged by disease or burdened by family obligations. I remember being able to snowboard from 9am until 4pm every day for a year. Now, I’m lucky to last from 11am until 2pm without wanting to go to the hot tub and drink a bucket full of beer! If we can appreciate how lucky we are when we are young, we’ll be able to maximize our vitality and live financially freer when we are older.

I think more and more people are recognizing the advantages of having multiple sources of income, thanks to the Great Recession. It was a real wake-up call to many good workers who lost jobs not because of poor performance but due to restructuring and cost-savings. They never considered themselves to be vulnerable and they were. We do have multiple streams of income and a fully-funded emergency fund, which has helped my family weather the ups and down life has brought us, including job loss.

I’m looking at accepting a professor job. It’ll be more than a 50% pay cut. But I’ll have the same life you describe – endless summers and an entire month every winter to ski. I’m thinking in the end, eventually, I might even end up wealthier in more ways than one. Happy people tend to be the most successful. I have no desire to diversify. Dividend stocks allude me. CDs seem like a good choice for older people, but I have time on my hands and real estate knowledge, so I’m sticking with what I know, despite the fact that most people will tell me it is foolish and I should diversify.

What I’m doing: I view passive income as funny money to keep myself sane during this long journey. I estimate 2-10 years to get to my goal depending on how active I am. The dollars created are just points one can accumulate. I’ve made passive income goals for each passive income type and check in at least once a year like I am now to make sure I’m on track. Passive income is also carefully managed to minimize tax liability. When you can build a buffer for a buffer, you are then free to take more risks.
At age 55, I own high-end rental properties (near the beach) and commercial buildings servicing the medical industry. I was widely criticized during my career for not living up to my income; that is, buying big homes with many fancy cars. I married a great woman who understood that saving and investing today meant a better lifestyle and more freedom tomorrow. Our passive income is half of my active income from sales, but my net worth has increased substantially. We are both happier and healthier than we were in the high-stress pressure cooker of franchise sales. The naysayers have become converts to the concept of passive income, but they have locked themselves into a “big hat, no cattle” lifestyle. It has been a great ride!
Capital growth in your portfolio can offset the eroding effect of inflation. But any capital gains that exceed the overall inflationary effect can be drawn off to augment your portfolio income. Of course, you must first generate those gains by making thoughtful investment selections. While allowing strongly growing assets to keep doing that, it is prudent not to allow them to become a dangerously large part of your portfolio lest they go off the boil. So if you selectively trim profitable positions along the way, you can boost your income.